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MARVEL COMICS: NFL Superpro
MARVEL COMICS IN THE MEDIA MARVEL UNIVERSE IN THE MEDIA NFL SuperPro was a short-lived comic book series published by Marvel Comics. Produced in collaboration with the NFL and written by Fabian Nicieza, the series started publication in 1991 and ended after 12 issues. The hero of this comic is Phil Grayfield, an ex-NFL-American football player who survived a freak accident and wears a near-indestructible football uniform. OUTLINE: Nicieza wrote a story centering around Phil Grayfield, once an aspiring football player. His career ended when he saved a child from falling and suffered a horrific knee injury. He became a sports reporter and interviewed an eccentric football superfan, who happened also to be a scientist. This scientist designed a new, almost indestructible football uniform, which has to be molded on an "individual basis" and costs five million dollars to construct — so is "worth a fortune". Suddenly interrupting the interview, thieves raid the eccentric's house, overwhelm the two of them, steal a van load of NFL merchandise (but not the uniform), and torch the building. Grayfield, who is tied up, knocks over experimental chemicals, which — in combination with the fire and diverse ultra-rare football souvenirs going up in flames — do not incinerate him, but turn him into a near-invincible superhero. Grayfield puts on the eccentric's football uniform and brings the villains to justice, dedicating his life to fighting crime and dubbing himself "SuperPro". PUBLICATION HISTORY The first issue starring NFL SuperPro was "NFL SuperPro Special Edition # 1", cover-dated March 1991. The series began with issue "NFL SuperPro # 1" (cover-date October 1991) and ended with "NFL SuperPro # 12" (cover-date September 1992). On two occasions, NFL SuperPro starred a guest-star, a common practice in comicbooks to boost sales; Spider-Man (in issue # 1) and Captain America (in issue # 8). The character NFL SuperPro hasn't been seen since the demise of the series. Writer Robert Kirkman reportedly wanted to use SuperPro in an issue of Marvel Team-Up but couldn't, due to copyright concerns. The closest he came was Marvel Team-Up # 9, where he lets the character Stilt-Man say: "I beat up a guy called SuperPro last week. Silliest looking guy...". RECEPTION NFL SuperPro has been called one of the worst comics in recent Marvel Comics history, becoming a cult object. Often cited in this claim are issues with the plot and the characters. For example, in the first issue a group of thieves incinerate valuable NFL merchandise but it is never explained why they burn it instead of selling it off. Writer Fabian Nicieza admitted he wrote the story to gain free NFL tickets. He stated that he still receives flak for his comic.22In 2005, the Chicago Sports Review called it "perhaps the worst comic book ever created". MERCHANDISE superpro 01.jpg|NFL SUPERPRO #01 superpro 02.jpg|NFL SUPERPRO #02 superpro 03.jpg|NFL SUPERPRO #03 superpro 04.jpg|NFL SUPERPRO #04 superpro 05.jpg|NFL SUPERPRO #05 superpro 06.jpg|NFL SUPERPRO #06 superpro 07.jpg|NFL SUPERPRO #07 superpro 08.jpg|NFL SUPERPRO #08 superpro 09.jpg|NFL SUPERPRO #09 superpro 10.jpg|NFL SUPERPRO #10 superpro 11.jpg|NFL SUPERPRO #11 superpro 12.jpg|NFL SUPERPRO #12 The NFL SuperPro Super Bowl Special.jpg|The NFL SuperPro Super Bowl Special trading card front.jpg|NFL PRO SET SUPERPRO (front) trading card back.jpg|NFL PRO SET SUPERPRO (back) licensed-contest-of-champions-120647.jpg|Contest of Champions NFL SuperPro Bend-Em.png|NFL SuperPro Bend-Em Action Figure Category:Comic Books in the Media Category:Marvel Comics Category:NFL Category:NFL Superpro Category:NFL Superhero